Page 37 of Brinley's Savior

Seeing her cry always pulled at every one of my heartstrings.

“I think maybe you should come in,” I said standing. I placed my hand on Zander’s shoulder farthest from me and pulled him into my side as I held out my other hand for Brinley.

It was my turn to be shocked.

When she took it.

ChapterSixteen

BRINLEY

Zander had finally fallen asleep.

Lying next to him, I stared at my world. I didn’t know what was going to happen next or how things would play out. What I did know was that I was going to do the right thing for my son.

He was so tired when we’d gotten home, but as soon as we got onto our floor a look of longing crossed his angelic face as he glanced down at Rowan’s door.

“Does my Daddy want to see me?” his tender voice asked.

His words ripped my heart to shreds and the answer was, I didn’t know. But how could I tell my son that?

“Baby, why don’t we go inside and I’ll tell you about him and then you can get some sleep?”

“O-okay.” My little guy’s voice shook again with remorse. I knew he wanted to go down there right now and talk to Rowan.

I was struggling with him calling him daddy but Zander had wanted it before he knew it to be true and he was grasping on to the title like a lifeline.

How could I take that away?

As we snuggled in bed, I rubbed his back and told him about his father. There was so much he wouldn’t understand, but for the time being I did the best I could at explaining about Rowan. He’d always known his real dad couldn’t be around, he had just been too young to grasp or ask why. It wasn’t too long before I realized I was talking to myself and Zander had crashed.

After some time, sleep finally came over me but a short while later I woke abruptly, an uneasy feeling consuming me. Then I looked over.

Zander was gone.

My pulse raced and panic shot through every cell in my body. Bolting out of bed, I shouted my son's name as I ran from room to room. When I reached the living room I noticed the front door unlocked and fear took over. I couldn’t move for a second, but then I remembered Zander’s words when we’d come home earlier.

He’d asked if his daddy wanted to see him. That was when I knew exactly where he had gone. Not taking a second to think about anything but getting to Zander, I hastily threw open the door and raced down the hall to find Rowan’s door wide open.

I came to a halt at the threshold as I took in Rowan on his knees and Zander standing in front of him, a smile on their faces. My pulse, which had been out of control, slowed a little. That was until Rowan’s gaze swept the length of my body.

His heated, inky eyes enhanced my pulse to a whole new level that left me breathless. But then something in them changed and Zander severed the connection when he told me that Rowan had made a promise.

Rowan didn’t make promises.

But he stood from where he knelt, his tall, muscled frame commanding attention, and he confirmed he had in fact made my—noour—son a promise. That bombshell of information had an impact so strong, my knees wobbled where I stood. Then he reached out his hand and asked me to come in, and I had no choice but to take it because I wasn’t sure I could walk.

Dropping his palm from Zander’s shoulder where it had laid, he shut the door, and took his son’s hand in his before leading us both inside to the couch. I sat down on one end and then Zander scrambled up on the cushion beside me. Rowan took a spot on the opposite end and turned slightly to look at me. Our son looked from me to his dad with droopy, sleepy eyes and then lay down with his head on Rowan’s large, strong thigh, and his feet on me.

We sat in silence for a few minutes, which is all it took before Zander was fast asleep.

Apprehension took hold as Rowan and I stared at one another. The conversation we were about to have was not one I thought I would be having. Sure at one time, but then when Rowan never came home I gave up on the idea, the hope, and admitting the truth about Zander. What if the information was not received well?

“I’m scared,” I whispered, dropping my head to my lap, not able to look at him as I admitted my feelings aloud.

He exhaled slowly. “Me too, Brin.”

My head snapped up quickly, my eyes bugging out of my skull. He was telling the truth, I could see the trepidation in his gaze.

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